We were catching the train at midday today, so that meant a lazy morning. We mooched and had breakfast, and were packed and gone by 11.30am. Most of the hotels have a 12pm check-out time, super-helpful! It was bucketing down most of the morning, and the clouds parted just as we were checking out – phew! We knew we’d be okay though, Stephen had already tested his rain poncho over his pack. Sexy as.

The journey today involved a local train from Avignon city station to Avignon TGV (fast train), then a change of carriage at Marseilles (whoops, that was our fault), this one took us through to Nice. Then a quick change at Nice for the Nice-Ventimiglia leg on a local train, then a TGV fast train from Ventimiglia to Milan. OMGosh! It was a bit stressful – with turnaround times of about 10 minutes each change, we needed to find the new platform and get on the train quickly. We didn’t really think about food until we were on the last train for the day – at around 4pm. The French trains have a buffet car, so we assumed the Italian ones did too. Nope. I ate all my snacks and was still feeling a bit hungry when we arrived in Milan at 9pm. Going 12 hours without proper food must be some kind of a record for me! By 10pm, once we’d purchased our Milan-Geneva train ticket and checked into our hotel, we were feeling rather hungry. The easiest option was McDonalds in the train station. Yuck, but it will tide me over until breakfast.

We had a late start this morning – didn’t get up for breakfast until 9am. After availing ourselves of the full buffet breakfast we set off for the Palais des Papes. This is the reason we came to Avignon, and we were not disappointed. It is HUGE. It housed nine popes in the 14^th and 15^th century, starting when Benedict XII, the first French pope, was elected. During its construction, it was the biggest building site in the Western world. The main building took 20 years – so fast for the size of it! It took us three hours to take in all of the Palais. So much to see! We even had a brief stop at a café right at the top of the tower at the top.

We followed this up with another visit to the Pont Saint-Bénézet  and then the Musee du Petite Palais – which houses a massive collection of religious artworks. Extremely impressive.

After about five solid hours of touristing, we were happy to sit down for a while. The high for the day was 28C, so just a bit warm. We selected one of the many cafes in the main street and had a delicious meal (as usual!). We went back to the hotel for some R&R after this. About 8pm we emerged again, in search of ice cream. It was nice to be out for a stroll at dusk, the temperature was a bit more manageable. We didn’t linger though, as we were sharing the streets with a lot of homeless people at this point.

We seem to have settled into an eating routine that suits us. We eat a big breakfast (I have cereal, fruit, yogurt and toast, Stephen has some variety of bacon, eggs, sausages and pastries). That sees us through until about midday when we have coffee and I have snacks. Then we are ready for lunch/dinner around 3pm, and that’s our main meal. Then sometimes there are more snacks later if needed. I try and have a ready supply of tasty treats and fruit that I carry around in a big ziplock bag.

We had to be on the train at 7.30am, so we made sure we were there nice and early to validate our Eurail pass and ended up with plenty of time for breakfast and finding the right train. We had decided to get the Metro to the train station, challenging but much more fun than a boring taxi!

The trip from Paris to Avignon was quick, with not much to see – mostly just tunnels and embankments, with some countryside.

We arrived in Avginon around 11am, so dropped our bags at the hotel and went to explore. It was warm and sunny – a nice change from the Paris rain. We wandered through the city centre, stopped for something to eat, and then found our way to the Pont Saint-Bénézet. We had a lovely time just laying on the banks of the river watching the world go by (and Stephen had a nap). To wake us back up, we walked the rest of the way around the city wall back to the hotel. We found a supermarket on the way, so got dinner supplies.

Once we hit the hotel, we were in for the night. We are staying at the Novotel – it’s comfy, and very close to the city and the train station. Weirdly, it has exactly the same décor as the Novotel we stayed at in Stevenage. Nice décor though, so I’m not complaining!

We didn’t have to be at the Arc de Triomphe until 10am today, so we had a leisurely breakfast and hit the Metro about 9am. We encountered commuter traffic, so a very busy train and it wasn’t until we got off that Stephen noticed his wallet was missing out of his front jeans pocket. We immediately called the bank and cancelled the cards. Not much else to do except be a bit annoyed. They got no money, and the most inconvenient aspect will be having to replace the driver license.

We’ve tried to sort out our money in a way that makes it hard to get ripped off – all of our money is stored safely away in the bank where it can’t be accessed by card (not without a PIN) until we need it, then we transfer it to our two credit cards. Then we use the OneSmart card to draw out cash each day, so we never have more than 50-100 Euro cash each. I also keep my cards in different places in my bag – one in a zip pocket, one in my wallet and one in my phone cover. That way if any of the cards are stolen, there isn’t much money on them to use, and we can still access our money.

We managed to get to the top of the Arc de Triomphe in between rain showers for a great view of the city.

We had a wander along the Champs-Eyleeses and decided to go to the Sacre Coeur since the weather was improving. It’s a lovely Catholic basilica (no photography allowed inside!).

We were sitting at the Metro waiting for a train to Bastille when Todd messaged that they were finished at the Louvre and ready for lunch, so we went to meet them. The sun was shining and we sat in the Louvre park and had a baguette. Delightful! The rain clouds were looming so we went back indoors and to the Metro. Todd and Kylie went off to Notre Dame and we went on to Bastille (nothing much to see there!).

We were up and out early this morning, hoping to beat the queues and the rain at Notre Dame Cathedral. We did good too – there were zero people waiting at the Cathedral entrance when we arrived, and there was a mass on too, very nice. The Cathedral is stunning – I’ve been here a couple of times already, but always keen for another look. It’s one of the best examples of gothic architecture in the world. The stonework outside is just awesome – gargoyles, beautiful statues and carvings.

The queue to go up to the top towers was just getting started when we came out of the Cathedral, so we joined that and had about a 15 minute wait (google warned me that the wait can be hours during the day). We went all the way to the very top of the Cathedral for stunning views of Paris, and an up-close look at the carvings. The queue for the Cathedral was veeeeery long when we came down the tower. Winning!

It was starting to rain as we came down, so we decided to head to the Louvre shopping area to wait out the rain for a bit – there are some nice shops and a Starbucks there. After about an hour the rain showed no signs of stopping so we went back to the hotel. On the way we stopped at the fruit shop and pastry shop for some snacks.

At about 3pm the weather looked like it might be clearing, so we went off to find a laundromat and had a lovely hour with some locals and their clothes.

And then it was still fine, so we had dinner at our local restaurant before going off for some more adventuring – to the Eiffel Tower. There were a gazillion tourists there, and heaps of street vendors selling trinkets and selfie-sticks. We had a lovely walk through the park and then stopped for ice cream before heading home again.

We had a bit of a lazy today – we didn’t set off out for the day until about 9.30am. It was still early for most people – not much traffic, not many people on the trains, and best of all, hardly any people at the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay.

Confession…we didn’t go into the Louvre. I’ve been their twice, and Stephen wasn’t overly fussed, so we skipped it in favour of the Musee d’Orsay – it has a great collection of impressionist art – including some of my all-time favourite painting.

It was pouring with rain at this point, so we made a dash for the train after attempting to get to Notre Dame, and headed straight back to the hotel for a bit to dry out. It stopped raining after a couple of hours, so we headed out again – this time to the Eiffel Tower. We made it all the way there and the heavens opened up again, so we scuttled back underground and to the hotel. It’s a bit disappointing that it’s raining so hard, but also quite nice to have a quiet day, just cruising on the trains and popping up here and there.

We also braved a local restaurant and had a delicious lunch/dinner of Guinea fowl and pilaf rice. The staff spoke excellent English, which makes me feel relief and shame in about equal parts.

It stopped raining again about 7pm, but we decided to stay in for the evening – we’re just enjoying some reading / TV / blogging time.

We were up with the bird this morning, eager to make an early start. The ferry left at 8.25am and we needed to get there by 7.30. We were there just after 7am, and sailing at 8.25 on the dot. The crossing was really fast – I barely had time to get my laptop out to settle in for some blogging before we were in France!

We walked the 2.2km into Calais Ville (fully laden I might add!) and found the train station easily. It took some time to sort out our tickets for Paris – we failed to notice the English flag (language selection) on the ticket machine and had trouble deciphering the French. The lovely ticket booth man spoke good English though (as do most French) so we were fine. We managed to negotiate a ham sandwich with the local cafe lady – she had no English, but we bumbled our way through.

The train trip to Paris also went by quickly – less than three hours. We were speeding along at about 250km p/h most of the time. Arriving in Paris was an experience – it’s such an assault on the senses – so many people, so much noise, so much going on! But we figured out how to get money, buy our ticket to Avignon, find a taxi. Our hotel is lovely – we really lucked out there. It’s small, but very comfy and the staff are very helpful. And also just by a Metro station, so easy to get around.

We took a bit of a rest and then went for a bit of a wander. We jumped on the Metro to Champs Elysees and walked down to the Arc de Triomphe. Again, very overwhelming – there were so many people and cars everywhere! And the queue to go up the Arc was way too long. We found a Pret café while trying to figure out where to eat so took the easy option and had a sandwich for tea and went back to the hotel for the night. Big day!

We started the day by going into Canterbury to check out St Augustine’s Abbey and Canterbury Cathedral. Both were really good – such history! This is the place of the founding of Christianity in England. Mind-boggling really. St Augustine himself was buried at the Abbey (although I don’t think he’s still there).

Canterbury Cathedral was spectacular. Big, beautiful and bristling with important English history. St Thomas Beckett is entombed here – he was killed in the church in 1170 by King Henry II’s soldiers. Apparently Beckett was causing the King a bit of trouble. Beckett was canonised soon after his death, and the Cathedral has been a pilgrimage site since then.

King Henry IV is entombed here also, as is Prince Edward, the so-called Black Prince.

We got to Dover about midday, and spent a lovely afternoon exploring Dover Castle. It’s at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean, and has been a defensive fort for almost 1000 years. It was an important military based during WWII – with big anti-aircraft guns defending London against the Germans.

The castle has a massive intact keep (tower at the top of a motte), with some really good re-creations of what it would have been like in its day – wall hangings and furniture etc. We had a good poke around.

We completed our mission of dropping of the rental car and went to our hotel for a bit of much needed R&R. It’s been a busy week!

Tomorrow we finish our stay in England, and head off for France.

We started the day with a spot of laundry-doing. It’s always a pleasant reprieve from the travelling to pause for a couple of hours and watch your clothes spinning around.

After that, we were on a mission! We were off to see Battle, where the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066. We were not disappointed – the battleground (really just a big open field of grass and sheep) has a great pathway and audio guide that gave us the full history of the battle. What amazes me, looking down from the English front line to where the Normans were fighting from, was how the English managed to lose. The Normans had to battle their way up a steep slope to get at the English. It really was the English’s battle to lose, and lose they did. King Harold (only crowned a few weeks prior) was killed in the fight, and William the Bastard walked away with a new title – the Conqueror.

We made a quick trip into Hastings to swap my sunglasses (the ones I had purchased in Oxford were broken) then made our way to Ashford for the night. Hastings was an …interesting… place. Let’s just say that the average wage here seems like it’s a lot lower than other places we’ve visited.

We chose to stay at Ashford Holiday Inn rather than driving into Canterbury – it’s much cheaper to stay in smaller places just outside main cities, and the hotels are better set up for working travellers, so we can usually get a big breakfast and wi-fi included in the room rate. And we don’t have to worry about parking.

I had a really tasty Indian meal at the local pub – amongst the best I’ve ever had!

We drove into Oxford in the morning to look around, but mostly so I could do some shopping. Gap, Marks and Spencer, yes! Oxford Castle was expensive and not terribly impressive – just a stumpy mound with no actual stones. So we went in search of other, less stumpy mounds in the area.

Berkhamsted Castle was a good place to stop for lunch. We parked up at the train station and wandered around town. Berkhamsted village had the feel of being quite wealthy – perhaps inhabited by workers who commute to London, and London retirees?

From there, we made a beeline for Stevenage, so we could meet up with Dave and Margareta – Stephen’s gamer friends from way back. We met up with Margareta in London last time we were here, but Stephen had never met Dave IRL before. Dave was in Ghana for work last time we were here.

We had a lovely dinner out with them – nice to have other people to talk to! It was a late night for us – we didn’t get to bed until about 11pm, and considering we’ve been waking up between 5-6am, that felt quite late.